Youngsters nominated for Prince’s Trust Award for positive contribution to community

By Tom Hussey

An inspiring group of young people from Bromley who distributed thousands of mental health support leaflets have been nominated for a Prince’s Trust Award.

The award recognises the positive contribution young people make to their local community whilst developing their own skills.

Bromley Team 24 were nominated for the Dell Technologies Community Impact Award after producing more than 2,000 youth mental health advice leaflets and distributing them to services around South London.

The group were taking part in the Prince’s Trust’s ‘Team’ programme at London South East Colleges in Bromley, which asks participants to identify and deliver a social action project within their communities while also aiming to build confidence and skills to redirect young people back into education or work.

One team member, Hayley Libretto, 17, from Bromley, who has struggled with anxiety herself, encouraged the team’s focus on mental health. She said: “There was a time when I didn’t leave my house. I wasn’t in school for a year-and-a-half.

“But doing this has given me so much more confidence to go after the things I want to do.

“I am so grateful to the Prince’s Trust for helping me.”

Hayley is now studying health and social care at Bromley Technical College and is aiming to become a social worker and is really happy.

The leaflet the group produced included contact details for mental health services available to young people in crisis. It was printed in yellow so people with dyslexia could read it and folded to a credit card size so it could be kept discreetly in a wallet or pocket for when needed.

All the youngsters in the group had experienced mental health and social skills challenges and drew on their own experiences when putting the leaflet together.

Team leader Jane Myles, who nominated the group, said: “I want to nominate these young people for bravely facing their own demons, with honesty and realism, and choosing to help others within their community. They were the people that they had needed at one time.”

The Prince’s Trust Awards recognise the achievements of young people who have succeeded against the odds, improved their chances in life and have had a positive impact on their community.

The awards ceremony is expected to be held in March, pending Covid-19 restrictions.

Pictured top: From left, William O’Dwyer, Hayley Libretto and Reece Gatton-Harding